Rivet guiding means



June 3, 1941. I BUTTER v 2,244,048

RIVET GUIDING MEANS Original Filed Oct. 14, 1938 Inventor KARI. Bz TTER Patented June 3, 1941 RIVET GUIDING MEANS Karl Butter, Rostock, Germany, assignor to Ernst Heinkel, Warnemunde, Germany Original application October 14, 1938, Serial No.

235,043. Divided and this application February 9, 1940, Serial No. 318,166. In Germany August 29, 1938 4 Claims. (CI. 78-49) The present invention relates to rivet guiding means for riveting machines comprising a reciprocable rivet stamp.

It is an object of the invention to provide rivet guiding means comprising a sleeve traversable by the stamp of the riveting machine and having radial passages from which project spring-pressed balls for releasably holding a rivet in suitable position for being struck by said stamp.

It is a further object of the invention to provide rivet guiding means comprising a sleeve traversable by the stamp of the riveting machine, said sleeve having radial slots through which spring-pressed levers having inclined rivet guiding surfaces extend into the path of the stamp.

It is a further object to provide novel rivet guiding means for machines for riveting together thin imperforate sheets which are to be perforated by the shanks of the rivets.

It is a further object of my invention to provide novei rivet guiding means suitable for use with riveting machines of the kind disclosed in my co-pending application, Serial No. 235,043, Patent No. 2,215,388, of which the present application is a division. It is to be understood, however, that my present invention is not applicable only to such machines.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following drawing which illustrates one embodiment of the invention by way of example only. In the drawing,

Figure 1 is a sectional view of the rivet guiding means, and

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on line A B of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawing, reference numeral 6 indicates the stamp of a riveting machine, the said stamp moving in a sleeve 42 having a T-shaped lateral opening 43 for the entrance of rivets. The rivets may be fed by an auto matic feeding apparatus which is not'shown as it does not form part of the present invention. To hold the rivet in the upright position as it enters the bore or hollow central portion of the sleeve, there are provided three balls 44 disposed respectively in three radial borings 45 in the sleeve 42 and protruding into the hollow central part of the sleeve 42 under the influence of springs 46 arranged in the said borings 45. The balls 44 are positioned in line with the vertical leg of the feed opening 43, thus to engage the shank portion of the entering rivet immediately upon the latter reaching the hollow central part of the sleeve. Advantageously the bordescription with reference to the accompanying a ings are arranged obliquely to the stamp 6 to facilitate pushing back of the balls during the downward stroke of the stamp. When a rivet held in position by the balls is freed therefrom by the stamp moving downwards, it is fed into the jaws of three radially movable centering levers 4l pivotally mounted in slots 48 in the sleeve 42. The levers 41 are passed by springs 49 to close their jaws around the shank ofthe rivet, but when the stamp, during its continued downward stroke, strikes the rivet through the work to be riveted the levers 41 are pushed back by the countersunk head of the rivet so that the head can pass freely between the three levers 41. After the rivet has been set the stamp 6 is restored to its initial position to allow a further rivet to be fed between the centering balls 44. The procedure described is then repeated.

The spring pressed balls may be dispensed with if the levers 41 are constructed to centre the shank of the rivet automatically. This can bedone by providing sloping enlargements 50 on the lower ends of the levers 41 in such a way that the shank of the rivet falling down the hollow sleeve 42 is guided by the sloping surfaces in of the levers 41 so as to be centred in the desired central position.

I claim:

1. A riveting machine having a rivet stamp, rivet guiding means comprising a sleeve traversable by said stamp, said sleeve having a T-shaped rivet feed opening intermediate its ends, a rivet holding means including ,radial passages in said sleeve and a spring-pressed ball disposed in each radial passage and projecting into the path of the stamp, said radial passages being disposed in line with the inner end of the vertical leg of the feed opening whereby said balls engage against the shank portion of a rivet entering the sleeve, and a rivet centering means being disposed below said holding means including radial slots in the lower end of said sleeve and 2.

spring-pressed lever extending through each slot into the path of the stamp.

2. A riveting machine as set forth in claim 1, wherein the radial passages are inclined in the direction of the working stroke of the stamp.

3. A riveting machine as set forth in claim 1, wherein each of said guide levers has an inclined rivet guiding surface.

4. A riveting machine as set forth in claim 1, wherein the radial passages are inclined in the direction of the working stroke of the stamp, and each of said levers has an inclined rivet guiding surface.

KARL BUTTER. 

